How many people has the Queen knighted/damed?

[Gathursty]

This question came to me when I read about Sir Tom Moore who has been newly knighted.

To clarify, how many people have been permitted to use Sir or Dame by Queen Elizabeth II?
Bonus point for how many people she has physically knighted with the sword?
Do Dames get the sword treatment too?

 

[Bald Rick]

The number is out there somewhere...

There are several different ways of becoming a Knight or a Dame, for example through the Order of the
Bath, the Order of the Thistle, etc etc.

Typically Her Maj. awards around 30-40 per honours list, and there’s two of those a year, plus occasional ‘specials’ eg when a Prime Minister leaves post.

Given she’s been at it for nearly 70 years, I’d guess somewhere in the region of 4-5,000.

 

[Springs Branch]

Slightly on a tangent - not so long ago, in the days when you could sit in a pub with your mates, we were discussing "Things You're Never Going to See". One suggestion was this:-

Rubert Murdoch kneels on velvet-covered stool.
Her Majesty dabs him on the shoulder with her sword and says "Arise, Sir Rupert".

Yes, I know reasons why Murdoch wouldn't get a knighthood for services to journalism are many & varied!

 

[PeterC]

The number is out there somewhere...

There are several different ways of becoming a Knight or a Dame, for example through the Order of the
Bath, the Order of the Thistle, etc etc.

Typically Her Maj. awards around 30-40 per honours list, and there’s two of those a year, plus occasional ‘specials’ eg when a Prime Minister leaves post.

Given she’s been at it for nearly 70 years, I’d guess somewhere in the region of 4-5,000.

Somtimes the Prince of Wales deputises so probably very slightly lower than simple arithmetic would suggest.

 

[Bald Rick]

Somtimes the Prince of Wales deputises so probably very slightly lower than simple arithmetic would suggest.

Between Prince Charles and the Duke of Cambridge, they do about half of the investitures now, I think.

The number I quoted is a very rough guess of how many people have been accepted into the relevant ranks of chivalry that enable them to use the title ‘Sir’ or ‘Dame’

 

[Jamesrob637]

I bet Lizzie has damned quite a lot of people in her nine, almost ten decades on Planet Earth!

 

[C J Snarzell]

I do know there is a list published every year of who gets a honour or knighthood and we are talking at least a 1,000 people in total (this is across the board - OBE, MBE, Dame, Knighthood).

Everyone on this list is from every walk of life who has done some recognition of achievement. The only ones we tend to hear about are people from the media like celebrities, sports people or generally important people (i.e. Police Chiefs, Parliament figures, Business people).

I suspect the ceremonies are 'staggered' with a small number of the candidates getting their title on a specific date - with the duties share between the Queen, Prince Charles & Prince William.

Bearing in mind that there will always be a few people too unwell to attend a ceremony & of course the very few who have refused their honour. Didn't Sean Connery once reject a honour?

On the subject of Sir Captain Tom - hasn't he got a book coming out in September too?

CJ

 

[Bald Rick]

I do know there is a list published every year of who gets a honour or knighthood and we are talking at least a 1,000 people in total (this is across the board - OBE, MBE, Dame, Knighthood).

Everyone on this list is from every walk of life who has done some recognition of achievement. The only ones we tend to hear about are people from the media like celebrities, sports people or generally important people (i.e. Police Chiefs, Parliament figures, Business people).

I suspect the ceremonies are 'staggered' with a small number of the candidates getting their title on a specific date - with the duties share between the Queen, Prince Charles & Prince William.

Bearing in mind that there will always be a few people too unwell to attend a ceremony & of course the very few who have refused their honour. Didn't Sean Connery once reject a honour?

On the subject of Sir Captain Tom - hasn't he got a book coming out in September too?

CJ

Honours lists are usually published twice a year: New Year and HM’s Birthday. There are occasionally extras.

If you decline to accept an honour, you don’t make it on to the list. The people I know who have had them all got a letter several weeks before the publication date of the list, and you write back confirming your acceptance (or not).

The ceremonies are indeed spread over the course of the year. Grand occasions they are too.

A significant majority of the awards are for people out of the public eye. There are some awards that are reserved for certain occupations, for example higher ranking civil servants, or army officers.